A recent amendment to the law regarding learning support in Finland’s early childhood education, primary and upper secondary schools came into effect this month prompting schools to hire more teachers. The reform introduces significant changes to how support is delivered including a new cap that no more than five students needing support can be placed in one teacher’s class group.
Published: 06/08/25 | 17:44
Outlined in the government’s programme the reform’s goals are to offer earlier and more effective assistance, make the support system more transparent and ensure smoother transitions between educational levels.
Key Changes Introduced by the Reform:
- The previous system that categorized learning support into three tiers that were general, intensified, and special will be removed.
- Students will now receive increased support within their existing class groups. A notable example is co-teaching where two teachers share responsibility for a class instead of one.
- When group-based support is not enough additional individual support will be implemented. More remedial lessons will be offered during the school day rather than after regular classes.
- In the future a single teacher can have no more than five students requiring support in their group.
- Special education services will continue to be delivered in smaller groups either partly or entirely based on administrative decisions.
The 2025–2026 academic year has been designated as a transitional period for these updates. To comply with the new requirements schools are expected to allocate more resources including time, funding and staff.
Implementation will vary between schools as some institutions began hiring additional teaching staff as early as March while others have not yet done so.
Education Minister Anders Adlercreutz (SPP) stated that the purpose of these changes is to provide more targeted individual support within classroom settings. According to Adlercreutz the current approach that is adjusting the entire curriculum to suit students needing special support has resulted in many students failing to acquire essential knowledge leading to difficulties later in their education.
